by Edie Melson

Hashtags can be a confusing concept, so today I’m sharing Hashtags 101 for writers. I’ll give you a list of popular hashtags and teach you how to use them effectively.

First, lets back up and evaluate the reason we’re all working at building an online presence. We are looking to deepen existing relationships and build new ones. But building new ones can be difficult if the only people we interact with are those we already know, either online or in person.

We can get a little bit of exposure to new folks by our existing connections introducing us, but that’s a time consuming way to go about it.

What if there was a way for someone to search a given social media network by topic and find new, interesting people to interact with? That would be a great way to grow our connections.

THAT, in the simplest of terms, is the purpose of using hashtags.

When you compose a social media update that includes one or two hashtags that summarize the topic, you are giving folks a way to find you.

NOTE: Use # (hashtags) to denote a subject, and use @ (at sign) to denote a person or organization. With organizations, you’ll find some that hashtag their names and others use the @ sign.

Twitter isn’t the only social media network that has hashtags. You can use hashtags in the same manner on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram. There may be other networks that also use them, but those are the main ones.

Hashtag Etiquette

Try to never use more than three hashtags in any one tweet. If you can make it two that’s even better. Otherwise you end up looking like a used car sales man. If you’re trying to reach more groups, schedule multiple tweets, at different times, about the same subject and target your groups two at a time.

Always research your hashtag before you use it. Never assume it’s the correct one. For example, I was targeting military families with tweets about my devotional for military families and I thought #military would be the logical hashtag. No, turns out that hashtag is frequently used by those trying to date someone in the military. Not really the demographic I was trying to reach. The hashtag I wanted was #militaryfamily and #deployment. The best place to research hashtags is also the easiest, just type it into Google or the search engine of your choice.

Now, I’m going to give you an updated list of popular hashtags. 

This list is extensive, but by no means exhaustive

For readers, the most popular hashtag right now is:

#amreading

For writers, there are two popular hashtags right now:

#amwriting

#write

If you’re editing something:

#amediting

If you’re quoting a literary agent:

#askagent

#author

#authors

#Christian

#Christfic Christian fiction

#devo Christian devotion

#devotion Christian devotion

#ebooks

#editing

#editmark

#fictionfriday

#flashfic flash fiction

#freebooks

#freelancelife

#freelancewriter

#fridayflash  flash fiction on a Friday


#Goodreads

#Indiauthor self-publishing

#Indiepub self-publishing

#Kindlebooks

#kindlefree

#Kindle_promo

#JesusTweeters from believers

#MBTWriMo My Book Therapy NaNoWriMo 

#microfiction

#MyBookTherapy writing community

#nano national novel writing month

#nanowrimo  national novel writing month


#novels

#novelists

#poem

#poet

#poets

#poetry

#pubtip  publication tips


#publishing

#reading

#scifi

#selfpublishing

#socialmedia

#socialnetworking

#specfic

#suspense

#twitter

#vss   very short story


#webfic  web fiction


#weblit   web literature


#wip   work in progress


#womensfic

#womensfiction

#wordcount

#writegoal

#writequote

#writer

#writers

#writetip  writing advice


#writing

#writingtips  writing advice

#wrotetoday

All of these should help you find the hashtags best suited to your situation.

I’d love to hear from you now. Twitter is ever-changing and hashtags come and they go. What are some of your favorites? Also, if you still have hashtag questions, post them below in the comments section.